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After all these years, Suikoden Hard Mode is here. Thanks to Starwin’s editor I was able to work on this over the last few months, and it’s finally ready. This is a middle-of-the-road Hard Mode as opposed to an Insane Difficulty ragefest (so there’s plenty of room if someone wants to make a Super Hard mode). All enemies and bosses in the game have been made stronger, and it has been fully tested from start to finish (and retested in numerous areas).

If you are familiar with my Hard Mode version of Lufia, then you’ll know that I offer compensation for the harder difficulty. Medicines now have a maximum quantity of 9 instead of 6, and Mega Medicines now have a whopping 6 instead of 3; and Antitoxins/Needles went from 4 to 6. On top of this, all item drop rates have been made much more generous as well as new drops added here and there, with bosses almost always giving something good.

Your initial characters have had a very slight HP boost as well as some equipment added for Ted to allow you to more safely get your first few levels; it could be dangerous with just Tir and Ted in the original game, but now the two can really only handle a pair of BonBons by themselves. There is no way around this if you wish to take on the optional sidequest for a Prosperity Crystal, but it’s naturally much easier if you skip it; although since you’re playing Hard Mode, who would want to?

While ‘Let Go’ allows you to run away guaranteed, for Hard Mode purposes the idea of clearing a dungeon is fighting every enemy encounter along the way, where the attrition challenge is to not use too much magic that you run out too soon. Rationing out your MP is important to safely conquer a dungeon. I normally get most of the treasure, and then retreat for healing before taking on the boss, having already ‘cleared’ the dungeon so to speak (at which point using Let Go is justified). Aside from that I’ll generally only use Let Go when the experience is irrelevant.

All changes in the game have been thoroughly documented, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested and to see if there are any item drops you might like to target. I also noted my party’s levels below some of the boss statistics. Almost all enemy formations have been increased throughout the game, so it isn’t just a case of tougher monsters; there are more of them too.

Please check out my fully-voiced playthrough on YouTube (link above) if you need help or would like to show support, as there will be plenty of hints and trivia mentioned in each video as well as the comments. I’ll upload new 30~ minute parts every Friday and Sunday. This will be my ‘second-pass’, so minor changes will be made along the way if I notice any enemies could use a further buff.

What’s Next: I plan on finishing my Hard Mode versions of Warsong and Langrisser 2 for the Genesis, and might do a voice-acted Let’s Play for the latter. Both are excellent TRPGs and well worth playing through the vanilla versions if you haven’t already as some consider them difficult enough already for casual players. I might revive my Breath of Fire II project afterward, and then move on with Breath of Fire III unless someone else does so in the meantime!

Acknowledgement: This wouldn’t have been possible without Starwin’s awesome dedication making the editor, so thanks again, if you happen to see this.

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Forgot to initially include the download link. >_> (Although it's in the YouTube description as well).

Yeah this is for the NTSC version which made the most sense for compatibility even though I've always used the PAL versions. I used the V1.1 version as a base, so I'm not sure if it would allow you to patch a 1.0 Suikoden. If I remember correctly, NTSC Suikoden II data works with Suikogaiden? And naturally for Suikoden III. Starwin said he might look into III; so a Hard Mode for that would be bloody ace. Which is Aussie-speak for 'quite decent'.

I'm a perfectionist so you can rest assured that it has been thoroughly tested and well-documented. I'd be keen as hell to make a more middling Hard Mode for Suikoden II as well if an editor is ever made, as good as it is to have Choirboy's S2 Hardcore ragefest. >_> Plenty of room for both!